Three likes and three dislikes from Wolf Pack's overtime win against Wyoming

We figured the Wolf Pack's game against Wyoming last Saturday would be exciting.

We just didn't know that it'd be exciting because Cody Fajardo would get hurt, Brett Smith would get ejected and a little-known backup would emerge to lead the Wolf Pack to a thrilling overtime victory.

Here are three likes and dislikes from Nevada's 35-28 win against Wyoming. We'll start with the likes first since I'm a positive kind of person.

Three likes

1) Devin Combs: Combs admits he was far from stellar in his relief effort subbing in for Cody Fajardo. Three of his first four series were three-and-outs. But the sophomore, with almost no experience at the FBS level, came up with some huge plays down the stretch. Even more impressive was the fact he did it with his arm and not his legs, which are considered his strength. Lets not get carried away: Combs isn't going to challenge Fajardo for the starting job, but helping Nevada to a win over Wyoming could be the difference between a Mountain West title and a second-place finish. Combs showed great poise under pressure, as well as an accurate arm on some deep passing routes.

Wide receiver Richy Turner has been a revelation this season for Nevada. (Liz Margerum/RGJ)

2) Richy Turner: How impressive has Turner been in his first year at Nevada after transferring from the junior-college level? Impressive enough that coach Chris Ault said he's been better than Rishard Matthews was in 2010, his first year with the Wolf Pack after transferring from a JC. Turner had seven catches for 150 yards, including the game-tying 44-yard touchdown with 78 seconds left. He also had a big 71-yard catch in the fourth quarter. I'll have more on Turner later this week, but needless to say his addition to the Wolf Pack offense this season has been instrumental.

3) Linebackers: Somewhat under the radar in the win was the play of the Wolf Pack's linebackers. Albert Rosette and DeAndre Boughton both had 14 tackles. Rosette caused a fumble that Boughton recovered. Both also had a pass breakup and played the best games of their Nevada careers. The third starting backer, Jeremiah Green, had four tackles, including one for loss. Rosette said he's feeling more comfortable back at linebacker after spending 2011 at defensive end. Boughton said he felt healthier against Wyoming, which led to the big numbers. Either way, the linebackers led the way on a pretty good defensive effort.

3A) Mackay crowd: The announced attendance of 24,025 fans seemed about right. It was a good homecoming crowd, and Wyoming even brought a nice chunk of fans.

Three dislikes

1) Officials: Tagging Wyoming's Brett Smith with two unsportsmanlike calls and thus ejecting the quarterback was weak. It was unnecessary and a huge turning point in the game. If Smith's unsportsmanlike calls were based on cheap shots or actually hitting a player, that's one thing (if anything, he deserved one for pushing Charles Garrett early in the game). But both of Smith's unsportsmanlike calls were basically for barking too much, and Rosette said what Smith did was nothing out of the ordinary for on-field trash talk. Wyoming didn't get a first down on the three possessions after Smith was ejected. If he stays in the game, everything changes. Smith deserves some credit for getting kicked out of the game, but the officials over-stepped their bounds.

2) Run game: For the first time this season, the Wolf Pack run game did not pull its weight. Nevada rushed for a season-low 127 yards on 37 carries, an average of just 3.4 yards per carry. Ault said the plan entering the game was to start by passing the ball to open up the rushing attack and when Combs had to come in for Fajardo that game plan was thrown awry. But 3.4 yards per carry is not Wolf Pack football. Even if Nevada was trying to establish the passing game first, this offense is built to run the ball, which it didn't do with much success against Wyoming. Still, it's seventh nationally in rushing at 278.5 yards per game, so everybody deserves at least one pass for a bad outing.

Stefphon Jefferson and the Wolf Pack run game never get on track against Wyoming. (Liz Margerum/RGJ)

3) Turnovers: The Wolf Pack had three turnovers: one interception thrown by Fajardo; one fumble lost by Combs; and one fumble on a botched handoff between Fajardo and Stefphon Jefferson that was credited as a lost fumble by Jefferson. The Wolf Pack has actually been pretty good in this department, with just six turnovers in the first five games. It tied a season-worst with three turnovers against Wyoming, which could have cost the team the game.

I disagree with point 1 of the dislikes... Brett Smith deserved both unsportsmanlike penalties... It wasn't as if the officials threw the flags right away... He lingered and continued taunting the crowd even after his own teammates tried to lead him away. His actions were not celebratory, they were cheap and inflammatory. He deserved what he got. As you said, he should have had another unsportsmanlike foul on the Wyoming sidelines earlier when he got pushed out of bounds. He is a very talented player, but he acted like a punk.

Like you Chris, I was a bit disturbed that we couldn't run the ball. Wyoming's line was handling us on both sides of the ball. I really thought, because of Fajardo's injury, we would come out with a major emphasis running the ball the second half!

About this blog

Longtime RGJ Media reporter Dan Hinxman is the authority on Wolf Pack athletics, bringing you the day-to-day coverage of Nevada’s sports teams. Dan has covered almost everything the Northern Nevada sports scene has to offer and will use his knowledge to bring you authoritative and engaging Wolf Pack content. Follow him on Twitter at @DanHinxmanRGJ.